The Isola Bella in Taormina will reopen to the public tomorrow, after the final works started last November and concluded in recent days. This is one of the sites managed by the Naxos Taormina archaeological park which since 2021 has financed a complex series of extraordinary maintenance interventions for over one million euros. This is what we read in a note from the Sicilian Region. “Activities and work sites have been specifically planned in the low season – underlines the regional councilor for cultural heritage and Sicilian identity, Francesco Paolo Scarpinato – also in consideration of the nature of the site, which has always been much loved and crowded with bathers all over the world. year, with a peak in attendance in the summer. Precisely in August 2023, Isola Bella recorded its historic visitor record with over 20 thousand entries in a single month”.
The last intervention involved the renewal and bringing up to standard the entire electrical system in the various housing units of Villa Bosurgi, the pavilion dwelling that characterizes the islet since it is camouflaged among the rocks and lush vegetation. The renovation of the entire system, damaged during a storm, cost over 500 thousand euros. Furthermore, between 2021 and 2023, other extraordinary maintenance and conservative restoration interventions were carried out on some rooms of the building and on the external paths that connect the various pavilions together. A complex and articulated action, also entirely borne by the Naxos and Taormina Park, for the amount of approximately 340 thousand euros.
“To this – says the director of the archaeological park, Gabriella Tigano – additional urgent works were carried out for around 200 thousand euros, such as the restoration of the underground water pipe which had been moved by the impact of waves and billows last winter, the consolidation of the vault of the dock, the securing of a ridge of rock and a maritime pine along the path followed by visitors, today anchored with steel cables”. Isola Bella can be visited every day, from 9am to 6.30pm (spring time). The cost of the ticket is 5 euros (full) or 2.50 euros (reduced).